Additive Manufacturing of Bio-inspired Structures via Nanocomposite 3D Printing
MIE Department Seminar
April 24, 2018
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Additive Manufacturing of Bio-inspired Structures via Nanocomposite 3D Printing
Yong Chen, PhD.
Industrial and Systems Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles
Abstract: Many natural structures out-perform the conventional synthetic counterparts due to the specially evolved multi- scale and multi-material architectures. However, the majority of current 3D printing systems are designed to fabricate parts using a single material in a single scale mainly for structural purpose. Such complex yet beautiful designs existing in natural structures are far beyond the fabrication capability of current 3D printing systems. This talk will report our recent work on developing new multi-scale and multi-material additive manufacturing processes to fabricate bio-inspired structures including (1) the Bouligand structure in natural creatures to create highly impact resistant architectures, and (2) the eggbeater structure of the Salvinia Molesta leaves to create superhydrophobic structures. After a brief overview of current 3D printing technology, an electrically assisted additive manufacturing (AM) approach to fabricate complex reinforcement architectures will be presented. The fabricated structures show three times enhanced impact resistance with Bouligand-type orientation compared with random orientation. Another additive manufacturing process named Immersed Surface Accumulation to fabricate complex micro-scale structures on an object surface will be presented. Such AM process enables one to reproduce biomimetic functional surfaces to achieve interesting properties such as hydrophobilicity and petal effect. Both AM processes are based on nanocomposite by mixing multi-walled Carbon Nanotubes with photocurable resins. Some promising applications enabled by the 3D-printed structures will also be demonstrated and discussed. The talk will conclude with remarks and thoughts on future 3D printing developments and potential opportunities for product designers and manufacturing engineers.
Bio: Dr. Yong Chen is an associate professor in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering and Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering (courtesy) at the University of Southern California. He received his Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology in 2001. Prior to joining USC in 2006, he was a senior Research and Development engineer in 3D Systems Inc, the pioneer in 3DPrinting industry. Dr. Chen’s research focuses on additive manufacturing (3D printing) in micro- and meso- scales. He received multiple Best/Outstanding Paper Awards in major design and manufacturing journals and conferences. Other major awards he received include the National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award in 2012, the Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer Award from the Society of Manufacturing Engineers in 2008, and the invitations to the National Academy of Engineering Frontiers of Engineering Symposiums in 2009, 2013, and 2015. He has served as conference/program chairs as well as keynote speakers in several international conferences, including the Conference Chair of the 2017 International Manufacturing Research Conference (NAMRC/MSEC/ICM&P) in Los Angeles, California.
Date posted
Oct 14, 2021
Date updated
Oct 14, 2021